Fidelity a problem for Eriksson

Despite what you might have read elsewhere, the problem with England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is that he does not play the field enough.

No matter how many would-be suitors for the England captaincy whisper sweet nothings in his ear, he has eyes only for David Beckham. No matter how many promising midfield players slip him their phone numbers, he is reluctant to sanction even a trial separation between Beckham, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Joe Cole. Such fidelity has led to an England team in which the players are so sure of their master’s affections it could affect our competitiveness for next summer’s World Cup.

We have already witnessed the affects of complacency against Denmark last week and now we need to see whether Eriksson’s men can rediscover their competitive edge in Wales on Saturday. These are the legitimate concerns about Eriksson and should be the ones on which he is judged. But for those who missed the latest “revelations” about his private life and are wondering how the Football Association again “let him off”, here are the full, shocking details:

1. According to a friend of a friend of someone’s nanny’s dog walker, Sven may or may not have made or received a phone call to or from Faria Alam/Ulrika Jonsson/Ben Johnson/the talking clock.

2. Brazenly refusing to respond to such damning evidence, Sven enjoyed a romantic hotel break with his long term, live-in girlfriend. Oh, and following the dastardly example set by the Royal Family, the prime minister and numerous pop stars, he used a false name. Which is a bit like spending the night in a hotel with your wife and registering as Mr and Mrs Smith.

Next week: Sven, the illegal immigrant.

Despite the millions he has sprayed around the football economy, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has yet to tempt one of the game’s superstar strikers to Stamford Bridge, as Milan managing director Umberto Gandini reflected after the Champions League draw. Neither Gandini nor his fellow directors were willing even to plant a deck shoe on one of Abramovich’s multi-million-pound yachts to discuss selling Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko.

He says: “Chelsea asked us: 'what are you going to do with Shevchenko?’ We told them 'nothing’ and that was the end of it.’ If Chelsea offered us ¤100million (£68m) it would make no difference because it is not a question of money and I think Abramovich knows that. He has not got the strikers he wanted, not Adriano (Inter Milan), not [Thierry] Henry, not Ronaldinho. As for Shevchenko, money can buy everything, but not today.”

Money cannot buy good manners, either. So while Ronaldinho picked up his award for best forward at the Grimaldi Forum, Petr Cech and John Terry of Chelsea stayed at home. Must have been their hair-washing night.

The only reaction to Arsenal’s Freddie Ljungberg injuring himself when crashing into an advertising hoarding last Sunday was to wonder that more players had not suffered similar accidents since, with the all-dancing, moving LED perimeter displays, they are like rabbits caught in headlights.

The perimeter advertising at Old Trafford is particularly irritating, as bright as a neon rush from New York’s Times Square and which make it impossible to keep one’s eyes totally focused on the action. Perhaps this explains why referees and officials have spotted a succession of non-existent fouls so far this season, flashing red cards that have been overturned almost before the players have finished their shower.

When this marketing menace was first witnessed on British screens during the Albania-England World Cup qualifier in March, 2001, Channel 5 was inundated with so many complaints that the BBC ordered them to be toned down for subsequent matches. But the only thing stopping them being used at all English grounds is that our hoardings are just 0.6metres high, which means that to reach the 1.0m requirement for LED, clubs would need to remove the first three rows of seating.

So that Arsenal fans might celebrate every home victory in the appropriate manner during the final season at Highbury, the club have applied for a change in their liquor licence to allow the sale of commemorative glass bottles of champagne.

Curiously, they published the details in the public and legal notices section of the Hornsey Journal, a newspaper group that, read by countless Gooners, perversely refuses to acknowledge Arsenal’s existence, giving all three sports pages to coverage of North London rivals Spurs.

Even this week’s back page headline: “Title shot is on!” referred to Tottenham. The real worry for Arsenal is that Spurs fans might object to the plans in enough numbers to stop the licence change. In their favour is the fact that representations to the Licensing Authority must be made in writing. Preferably joined up.

Italy’s Pierluigi Collina is widely regarded as the world’s best referee. Yet he infuriated Everton in midweek when he ruled out what appeared to be a good goal from Duncan Ferguson during the Champions League qualifier against Villareal. Given the violent manner in which Ferguson responded to the last two people who tried to rob him, Collina should perhaps be re-christened the world’s most courageous referee.